Supernatural: Jensen Ackles Says the Winchesters' Journey Will Never Be Over

This time next year, the story of Sam and Dean Winchester will no longer be on our television screens, as Supernatural comes to an end after fifteen seasons. But as series star Jensen Ackles recently revealed, the show's conclusion might not mean a complete finality for the main characters. ComicBook.com was on hand for Supernatural's panel at the Television Critics Association press tour, where Ackles was asked about a previous comment he made, about how the show would be over once the Winchesters have "learned from their mistakes". As Ackles put it, the series coming to an end doesn't necessarily mean that Sam and Dean will stop evolving and going on a journey together.

"I don't think so." Ackles revealed. "I don't think these guys look in the past very often, unless it's to help moving forward. I think they will continue to move forward, but this is just it's a long journey that I don't think is ever going to be over. I think we're just going to go away for a while. How long, I don't know."

Fans have been preparing for the end of the long-running The CW series, ever since it was announced earlier this year.

"I feel like Sam and Dean find some version of peace," co-star Jared Padalecki said in an interview last month. "Whether or not that's alive or dead, or if Amara possesses me or whatever the situation is, I feel like they find more peace than when the season starts."

"When we were in the room and the idea came down the pipe, everybody was kind of signed off on it," Ackles added. "My reaction was more like, 'OK, OK.' I struggled with it for about a week or so, and then I realized I'm too invested, I'm too emotional. I'm too close to this character. To see anything with finality on it, it's just hard to digest. I talked to a few people about it and got some clarity on it and have tried to look at it from a different perspective. I, now, have come around to being like, 'This is a really good ending. This is satisfying.'"

"You don't want to leave people feeling hollow. You don't want to leave people feeling cynical," co-showrunner Andrew Dabb added. "That doesn't mean the ending is always happy and everybody high-fiving, but it means that the journey was worth something and came to a place that makes everyone feel it was, again, worth kind of taking that trip."

Supernatural's final season will begin Thursday, October 10th at 8/7c on The CW.

Additional reporting by Scott Huver.